In a statement issued here, Imran Khan questioned, “Having become redundant politically after his disqualification, and knowing he can now never become PM, Sharif is prepared to destroy the whole democratic system.”

The earlier plan of Nawaz Sharif returning to Lahore on Sunday via motorway was altered. Punjab Information Minister Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman had said that the decision to change the programme had been taken on ‘public pressure’, adding that the journey to Lahore via GT Road would be completed at least in two days. The PTI chief emphasised, “In a democracy, one leads by moral authority, and Nawaz Sharif has lost it the day his corruption was exposed.”

Imran Khan asserted that Sharif’s second purpose in going on the GT Road was to pressure NAB, where his cases related to corruption, money laundering, tax evasion, concealment of assets and forgery are set to open.

“While PTI called off its protests once SC took up the rigging and corruption cases, Sharif has chosen to take to streets after being found guilty and having been disqualified,” he said.

“Nawaz Sharif is continuing to use state resources – from funds to government machinery including Punjab police and local governments – to destroy the judiciary and thereby the democratic system,” the PTI chief maintained, and warned that this ‘destructive design’ of Nawaz Sharif will not be allowed to succeed. PML-N is banking on its workers for making the return of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to his hometown a ‘historic’ occasion to get the much-needed political mileage in the face of the challenges its government is facing.

The PML-N workers from across Punjab are being mobilised by the local leadership to reach Lahore and other points to welcome their leader.